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Jack Munro

“PAGE 18

$10 MILLION FEARED SLASHED

Union calls
ifor debate
'on NV schooi
| budget cuts

NEWS photos Mike Wakefield

THE NORTH Shore municipalities, in conjunction with the industry-sponsored TRANSCAER (Trans-
portation, Community Awareness And Emergency Response) program, held an exercise to test the first-
response capability of local emergency personnel Thursday afternoon. The exercise simulated a bazardons
materials release from a rail car-truck accident on the Pioneer Grain property in North Vancouver. 4
crew moves in (top) to assist the driver of the truck that struck a pickup truck and then crashed into two
rail cars carrying bazardous material. A firefighter (middle) smothers 2 fire. A crew (above) attends (o an
occupant trapped in an overturned pickup truck.

FEARING THE North Vancouver District 44 School Board
(NVSB) is set to slash up to $10 million in programs and
services in light of the provincial government’s controversial
block-funding formula, the union representing the NVSB’s
non-teaching personnel is calling on the board to hold 2
public meeting before it adopts its 1990/91 school budget.

Mike Hocevar, president of the
C:uadian Union of Public
Employees (CUPE) local 389. said
the school board should not pass
its budget for the next school year
until employees and the public can
make submissions on the docu-
ment,

“The trustees are considering a
$10-million cut in the budget for
the upcoming year in response to
the Social Credit government's
pending block-funding
legislation,’’ said Hocevar. **But
such a major change in our schools
should not be made without
discussion with the people who
work there and with the parents of
students.’*

But NVSB chairman Rev. Roy
Dungey said the $10-million figure
is not ‘‘totally accurate."

“Quite a while ago we took a
(trial) run at the budget and we
told our staff what we wanted to
see in it and it came out to about
$9-million. That's what they're
(CUPE) talking about,” said
Dungey. *‘But we've had four dif-
ferent runs all together."

As for the 1990/91 bucz-t,
NVSB superintendent of schools
Dr. Robin Brayne said it will be
discussed by the board at its Tizes-
day night public meeting and again
at its March 27 meeting. He added
that the two meetings will be the
public meetings CUPE is calling
for.

Hocevar said the board should
not pass the budget under the
education ministry’s new School
Finance °90 program because it is
only ‘‘pending Icgislation."

The union is asking the NVSB to
delay adopting its budget until its
regular meeting on March 27, or
plan a special public meeting.

Hocevar suid the NVSB is still
recling from budget cuts imposed
on it by the provincial government
in 1983,

“North Vancouver schools are
urgently in need of upyerading to
keep them safe and warm,” said
tHocevar, “Cuts in’ our custodial
and janitorial staff in 1983 have
left our members overworked and
frustrated because they cannot
keep the schools as clean as they
were in 1982."

By SURJ RATTAN |
News Reporter 3

He added thai the union is urg-
ing all North Vancouver parents to
contact the school trustees over the
issue, Saying ‘‘we must not let our

NVS8 chairman Rev. Roy Dungey
«$10 million figure not ‘totally
accurate.”

-thool board be intimidated by the
provincial government into lower-
ing the educational standards and
cleanliness of North Vancouver
schools. °’

Hocevar said the union will ap-
pear before Tuesday night's regu-
lar NVSB meeting to urge the
board to hold a public meeting on
the budget debate.

Meanwhile, Dungey said any ac-
tion other B.C. school boards take
to “harass’’ the education minisiry
out of implementing its block-
funding formula should be sup-
ported.

He made the comment after the
Surrey school board announced
Thursday thar it will ask B.C.
Ombudsman Stephen Owen to in-
vestigat: Victoria's new funding
system.

“Tt don’t know what the om-
budsman can do, or even if it’s
within his mandate, but anything
they (the Surrey school board) ean
do to harass the ministry to take a
second look (at the funding for-
mula) should be supported,” said
Dungey.

See Referendums